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Dick Larkin's Weekly Newsletter
Kicking Goliath in the Shin
January 17, 2003
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In This Issue
-- Don't Just Dream Big. . . BELIEVE BIG
-- Go for the Big Score
-- Oh, I Wish I were an Oscar Mayer WINNER
-- Strength = Weakness
-- Know your own weaknesses
-- Brain Teaser
-- Invest for Success
Greetings!
These newsletters are to provide entertainment and encouragement. Pass it along to your friends.
The NCAA Football National Championship was decided recently in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. Both teams entered the field with undefeated records, but the Miami Hurricanes were clearly the odds-on favorite. The Vegas bookies set the point spread with the Ohio State Buckeyes as 11 ½ point underdogs.
Defending National Champs, Miami came looking for their second straight title and their 35th consecutive win. That undefeated streak is simply astounding given the parity among the top tier schools and the competitive nature of the sport. Miami swaggered onto the field as Goliath against Ohio State's David.
In perhaps the most exciting game ever played for the National Title, Ohio State won by a touchdown in the double-overtime battle. The last time Ohio State had won the National Championship was in 1968 under the direction of legendary coach Woody Hayes.
Today's lesson,
Ohio State simply wanted it more.
Don't Just Dream Big. . . BELIEVE BIG
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 Several times during the game, it looked as if the Buckeyes would have an unhappy end to their Cinderella season. As the first overtime ended, the Miami fans ran onto the field in a slightly premature victory celebration. Unfortunately for the 'Canes, the Buckeyes had not quite conceded victory. Ohio State believed that as long as there was time on the clock, they could still win.
To achieve any goal, you must BELIEVE that you CAN accomplish it. It's not a matter of wishing, hoping or praying. As long as there is breath in your body, desire in your soul and time on the clock, the only goal that is unattainable is the one you let go.
It's a matter of how badly you want it.
When you walk into an account, you must BELIEVE that the program you are proposing is in the best interest of the advertiser, that it will generate profits far in excess of his investment and that he will become a customer for life. This can only happen if you have done your homework and prepared your proposal in a thoughtful and conscientious manner.
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Go for the Big Score
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 Ohio State was in dire circumstances several times during the game (and during the season). They faced a number of daunting third and fourth down situations. However, instead of trying to gain the required ground with conservative running plays, the Buckeyes went for big pass plays. This kept Miami off balance, and OSU maintained control of the ball.
In sales, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is setting your goals too low. When you set goals too low, you subconsciously devalue yourself and your product. The most successful salespeople are those who aim high and go full throttle.
One of life's rules is that no one will put a higher value on you than you put on yourself.
Carrying that rule into sales. . .
A customer cannot feel more passion about your proposal than you do. If you ain't got it, your prospect won't either.
Oh, I Wish I were an Oscar Mayer WINNER
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 This week's motivational quote. . .
If you'd rather be a WINNER instead of a WIENER, you'd better get off of your buns.
OK, so that was really lame. It just means that "success" only comes before "sweat" in the dictionary.
In life, "sweat" always comes before "success".
Strength = Weakness
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We all face competition that is superior to us in one way or another. In our case, we're usually battling a well entrenched phone company with vastly greater size and resources. To be successful, we've got to understand how their strengths are also their weaknesses. If size is their strength, prepare your presentation to show how our size carries other benefits for the advertiser.
Know your own weaknesses
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 A major part of Ohio State's preparation was the scouting work done on Ohio State.
That's right, the Buckeyes' coaches exhaustively studied their own performance as though they were scouting for Miami. In studying themselves, they developed a feel for how Miami would see them. The self-study also helped Ohio State identify patterns and weaknesses in their game plan. They modified their play calling to eliminate those patterns, thus denying Miami the satisfaction of anticipating the play calling.
In our business, we need to realistically look at our team's weaknesses to counter the competition. A good attorney will diffuse the opposing counsel's case by bringing it up first and handling the objections before they have a chance to sink in.
A good salesperson is not so much an expert at handling objections as he is in preventing them in the first place through proper preparation.
Brain Teaser
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 Wow, lots of interesting answers, but very few of the ones that we were looking for. To refresh your memory, here is last week's brain teaser. . .
Over the holiday, a few of our folks took a weekend trip to Tijuana to study the political effects of NAFTA on our cross-border economics. (Or something like that).
While in Mexico, Dennis Reimert (not his real name) purchased a solid mahogany pool cue from a street vendor. This wasn't one of those screw apart pool cues, but one made from a single piece of wood. It had been handcrafted with inlayed pearls and detailed workmanship.
Anyway, after crossing the border back into the United States, Dennis attempted to board the San Diego Trolley. However, the driver refused admittance because the cue was 5 ft. long. Trolley regulations do not allow any packages longer than 4 ft. 3 in.
Dennis begged the conductor to allow him to board, but it was to no avail.
Dennis even went so far as to slide the cue down his pants leg, but the conductor still refused to allow him to board.
Panic set in as our traveler was down to his last few dollars, and couldn't find any other transportation back to town. In a rare moment of brilliance, Dennis came upon a solution. He ran into a nearby shop and returned a few moments later with the pool cue and something else. The pool cue was unaltered, and the conductor was satisfied that the size requirements for carry-on packages were being followed to the letter of the law.
Dennis took his seat with his pool cue in the aisle beside him and rode the trolley back into town.
What was it that Dennis purchased in the store that allowed him to legally carry the pool cue inside the trolley?
Several people guessed that Dennis had purchased a pair of sunglasses and carried his pool cue as a blind man's cane.
Exactly how stupid do you think San Diego transit workers are?
Someone even suggested that Dennis purchased a bottle of Wild Turkey and gave it to the driver. Like THAT would get him on the trolley!
Sorry, the CORRECT answer is that Dennis purchased a BOX that was 4 ft. long and 3 ft. wide and he put the pool cue in DIAGONALLY.
He's really clever sometimes!
Our WINNER is JEWELL MEYERS in Lewis County, Washington!
This week's puzzler
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TransWestern's motto is "Serving Your Needs From Coast to Coast." This week's Brain Teaser requires a sharp mathematical mind.
On January 1, two of our EVPs decided to meet to discuss strategy. Steve Boucher represented the East Coast, and Wes Rice represented the West Coast. They agreed to meet somewhere in the middle of the country, but since neither could remember the names of the interior states, they decided to head toward each other until they met.
Steve left New York on his moped that averages 20 miles per hour. Wes headed east from Oregon in a red, white and blue AMC Gremlin that averages 40 miles per hour. They left at the same time, and for purposes of this example, they headed directly toward each other in a straight line. The distance between the starting points was exactly 2,800 miles.
When they finally met, who was closer to the west coast, Wes or Steve?
Send your answer to mopedsrule@dicklarkin.com by next Wednesday, January 22. We'll select one winner to receive a limited edition bottle popper.
Fun Facts about Ohio
- Charles Goodyear of Akron, Ohio developed the process of vulcanizing rubber in 1839. His immobilizing two-finger grip on Henry Ford's neck resulted in Goodyear landing the largest tire purchase order in history.
- Roy J. Plunkett of New Carlisle, Ohio invented Teflon in 1938. Bill Clinton owes this guy big-time.
- Cleveland was the site of the first pedestrian button for the control of a traffic light. The device was part of an Oberlin University research project to see how many times a person will press a button that does absolutely nothing. The study continues. . .
- In 1865 the first ambulance service was established in Cincinnati so that local attorneys would get plenty of exercise.
- "Hang On Sloopy" is Ohio's official state rock song. Apparently, Louisiana had already called dibs on Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True."
- Akron was the first city to use police cars. Officers were relieved to finally stop shouting weeee-oh, weeee-oh as they ran after criminals.
- Cincinnati had the first professional city fire department. Their first order of business was to ship Mrs. O'Leary and her cow off to Chicago.
- Akron lays claim to the title "Rubber Capital of the World." Coincidentally, the University of Akron named their team the Fighting Zips [the rest of this sentence has been removed by the Human Resources Department for your protection].
- The American Federation of Labor was founded in Columbus, Ohio. You got a problem with dat?
- Cleveland became the world's first city to be lighted electrically in 1879. 14 businesses were powered by hundreds of residents who took turns rubbing balloons on their heads to generate electricity.
- Ohio is known as the Buckeye State. The unusual moniker was a compromise between the Ohio Dentists Association who wanted it called the "Bucktooth State" and Ohio Organization of Optometrists who were lobbying for the "Cockeyed State."
- Thomas A. Edison from Milan, Ohio developed the incandescent light bulb, phonograph, and early motion picture camera. Yeah, but what has he done lately?
That was fun. See you next week.
Find past newsletters at www.DickLarkin.com
Invest for Success
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In the case of Ohio State, their attitude made the difference between being National Champs and being runner up.
Invest in your team's future by having Dick Larkin inspire them to higher performance.
Unless you can get your team to work more hours, the only way to increase production is to train them to work smarter.
Let Dick help them help you.
Contact Information
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email: newsletters@dicklarkin.com
voice: 858-614-5425
web: http://www.dicklarkin.com
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